Hong Kong Inflation December 2015

Hong Kong: Inflation stable in December

January 22, 2016

Inflation remained stable in December at November’s 2.4%. The result was in line with market expectations. The result came mostly on the back of an increase in prices for food, which offset a decrease in prices of durable goods. A government spokesman added that, “looking ahead, the upside risks to inflation should remain contained in the near term, as low global inflation amid soft international commodity prices will likely keep external price pressure at bay, and as local cost increases will likely be restrained by the subpar economic conditions.”

Consumer prices rose 0.7% in December over the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms, which was significantly above November’s 1.6% increase. Meanwhile, annual average inflation inched down from November’s 3.2% to 3.0% in December, which marked the lowest reading since April 2011.

Met the why particular Consensus Forecast panelists expect inflation to average 3.1% in 2016, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2017, the panel expects inflation at 2.9%